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The Wisconsin Center District runs the convention facility, Miller High Life Theatre and UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

The three-year contract, which takes effect June 30, is for both 24/7 security of the buildings as well as for specific events.

Previously, UW-Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Admirals, Milwaukee Wave and concert promoters contracted for their own event security.

Under the new pact, the Wisconsin Center District will bill tenants for the event security, which will include use of magnetometers.

Marty Brooks, chief executive officer of the district, said the contract works out annually to around $328,000 for the 24/7 security and nearly $1.3 million for event security.

Jim Kanter, board chairman, said the organization "wanted to make sure that we provide the best security for all the patrons coming through the doors. The magnetometers are a big game-changer for us. That magnetometer operation, we wanted to make sure someone could actually operate them."

Representatives of the Milwaukee Area Service & Hospitality Workers Organization handed leaflets to board members as they entered the meeting, calling for a delay in approving the contract until labor issues were resolved.

Among the reasons given to delay approval, the leaflet pointed out that "risking labor unrest is bad business" for the district and "disruption during the 2020 convention will embarrass Milwaukee" and the district.

Dave Somerscales, an organizer with the organization, said "It's probably not a very smart business decision to take into account not just the workers that are going to be doing security but potential problems that could come out of this with the DNC next summer."

"The DNC has been very clear publicly that they support workers having the right to organization, to unionize, to make higher wages," he said.

In negotiating the agreement with the Democratic National Committee, Brooks said, "We carved out any existing agreements the center has to enable the DNC to do whatever it wants during the license period."

Brooks said the DNC has "the ability to bring in whomever they want to do whatever they want."

"We are required to provide very basic security for the building as we normally would," he said. "If they choose not to use Per Mar, and don't want Per Mar in the building, we operate at their direction."

Milwaukee Ald. Robert Bauman, a board member who opposed the pact, called the vote "pretty shameful."

He said an organization that "collects a substantial amount of tax dollars from Milwaukee citizens" should be able to deal with some of the lowest paid workers in the service and hospitality industries.